Girls Track and Field: Methacton returns home as quadruple medalists

CALN — Methacton’s girls track and field team returned home from Coatesville Friday in possession of four medals won by its girls on the first day of the District One Class AAA Championships.

The Warriors’ top two finishers were Jenny Martin, who won the bronze medal in javelin with a heave of 125-1, and Kristin Beatty, who tied for fourth place in pole vault with a height of 11-0.

“I got a p.r. (personal record) by eight feet,” said Martin, a sophomore who also advanced to today’s semifinals in the 100 hurdles as fourth seed.

“In the trials, I threw 114, 117 and 117 and was seeded fourth for the finals. My first throw in the finals was the 125-1. I knew it was going as soon as it left my hand. I followed through really well and I had a lot of adrenaline.”

Beatty said, “The 11-0 today tied my p.r. I made all my jumps on first attempts today up to 11-0. I went to 11-6 and my second jump at that height was really close. I just need more practice turning on the top of the pole.”

Additionally, Tejara Ellis finished eighth in shot put with a distance of 37-2.25 and Aghina Marshall took eighth place in long jump with a leap of 18-1.25.

“My personal best is 37-7 so today was a little off,” said Ellis, a sophomore. “I don’t think I did a good job today. It’s my first time to compete at districts and I think I was a little intimidated.

Other top area finishers in shot put were Perkiomen Valley’s Macey Tanseco, who was silver medalist at 40-1, and GwyneddMercy Academy’s Elzabeth Forcellini, who was fifth with a distance of 38-6.5.

In other javelin action, Methacton’s Nikki Serratore was 10th at 109-10 while Pope John Paul II accounted for fifth and sixth places with Marley Golato at 122-2 and Devon Player at 117-3. Serratore also advanced to today’s semifinals in the 100 hurdles as an eighth seed.

In the high jump event, they needed an extension for the sixth-place spot on the awards podium because five girls finished tied for sixth with a height of 5-3. The quintet included Spring-Ford’s Nicole Cornell and Natalie Thomas, Upper Merion’s Regie Robinson and Mount St. Joe’s Katie Gross.

The track portion of the meet featured only trials.

Norristown’s Alexis Bell advanced with the third-fastest time in the 100 and as sixth seed in the 200 while her teammate Rowanna Watson had the fourth-fastest time in both the 100 and the 200. The Eagles’ Zayna Milligan advanced as 11th seed in the 200.

“The 12.18 was a new p.r. for me,” said Bell. “It was my best race of the year. My start was really good. I’ve been concentrating on my start a lot in practice. That was the main part I had to clean up.”